


a brand new need is born

by sugaplumvisions



Category: Castlevania (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas, Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-28
Updated: 2019-11-27
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:53:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21588679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugaplumvisions/pseuds/sugaplumvisions
Summary: When Vlad gets a little too far on Adrian's nerves, Adrian decides to bring home a Belmont for Christmas. Trevor jumps at the chance to spend Christmas somewhere other than campus. But when fake feelings get a bit too real, will they manage to figure out their emotions?
Relationships: Alucard | Adrian Tepes | Arikado Genya/Trevor Belmont, background hints of trephacard
Comments: 25
Kudos: 127





	a brand new need is born

“I swear I am going to kill my father,” Adrian says. He glares at the television, which has never done anything to hurt him, but has earned his ire by mere proximity.

“What did he do this time?” Sypha asks, laying a gentle hand on his shoulder. 

“He will not stop bothering me about taking over Tepes Industries.” Adrian frowns harder. 

“You shouldn’t be forced to base your life off him,” Sypha says. She squeezes his shoulder. 

“Thank you.” Adrian sighs. “I don’t like this and I don’t want it. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life managing a business that, frankly, has pretty questionable morality.” He groans. “I’m a socialist, Sypha. A socialist!” 

“Just ignore him until he shuts up again. I’m sure your mom will talk some sense into him. 

“I only wish I could do that,” Adrian says. “But I have to come home for Christmas next week, and my father is going to expect some kind of answer from me, or to hear that I’ve switched my major to business.”

“Right,” Sypha says. “I forgot about Christmas.” She doesn’t celebrate it, seeing as the Speakers don’t celebrate Christian holidays, but she’s at least looking forward to the time home with her grandfather. “Can’t you just let your mother handle him?” Sypha looks at him expectantly. “You’d think she’d be proud that you’re going to be a doctor like her.” 

Adrian shrugs. “She is. But my father’s been traveling lately, and so he’s had plenty of time to come up with big grandiose ideas about me taking over for him.” 

“That’s ridiculous,” Sypha says. “They can’t force you.” 

“He can make my life miserable unless I do,” Adrian says, and flops backward on the couch. “I hate this.” 

“I know,” Sypha says, flopping back and curling up into him. “You could just…not go home for Christmas?” 

“I have to,” Adrian says. 

There’s a long, morose silence before Sypha breaks it. 

“But wait,” she says. “I have an idea! Why don’t you just come up with something more interesting for them to worry about?” 

“Like what?” Adrian raises an eyebrow. 

“Take someone home for the holidays,” Sypha suggests. “They’ll be so busy with fawning over your new boyfriend that they won’t have time to bug you about what you want to do when you grow up.” 

Adrian tilts his head, and Sypha can almost see the wheels turning in his head. 

“Sypha, you might just have a good idea,” he says. 

“For once in my life!” Sypha grins. 

“It’s just… I don’t know any single guys,” Adrian says. “Or any other guys, really. Or anyone who’s not you.” 

“Leave it all to me, Adrian,” Sypha says, still grinning. “I’ve got this.” 

“Please make sure they’re someone my family will like enough to get them off my back,” Adrian says. 

Sypha nods slowly, then pauses. “Wait. What if instead of pacifying him, you could really, _really_ fuck with him?”

“What are you suggesting?” Adrian frowns down at her. 

“I may know a single guy who has nowhere to go for the holidays,” Sypha says. “How would you feel about bringing home the last Belmont?” 

Adrian grins. “Oh Sypha,” he says. “Your _mind.”_

#####

Trevor groans. “It’s 2 AM,” he says as he answers his phone. “This better be good.” 

“I promise you it’s going to be good,” Sypha says. “I know you don’t have anywhere to go for Christmas.” 

Trevor frowns. “I figured I’d just stay on campus.” 

“You know I’d invite you home with me,” Sypha says. “It’s just—” 

“There’s no room. Sypha, I know this.” Trevor nestles farther into his pillow. “What, did you call me in the middle of the night to remind me that I’m an orphan?” 

“I’m calling from my movie night with Adrian,” Sypha says. “You know Adrian?” 

Of course, Trevor knew Adrian. They’d met at Sypha’s last birthday party, and Trevor had been absolutely floored by his beauty. He’d been waiting for an excuse to meet him again ever since. 

“I might remember him,” Trevor says. 

“Well he wants to piss off his dad,” Sypha says. “And he’s prepared to take you home for Christmas to do it.” 

“What, is he some kind of homophobe?” Trevor asks. “Because I’m _not_ dealing with that again.” 

“No, no,” Sypha says. Trevor can hear her grin over the phone. “You never caught Adrian’s full name, did you?” 

“I wasn’t paying attention,” Trevor says. It’s true; he wasn’t. He had been too busy staring at golden eyes, porcelain skin, and incredibly soft-looking lips. 

“Adrian Tepes,” Sypha says. 

“Of _the_ Tepes family?” Trevor sits bolt upright in bed, shocked. 

“Of _the_ Tepes family,” Sypha mimics. “And he hates his dad and doesn’t want to take over the business. You interested in pissing off Vlad himself?” 

Trevor grins. “Absolutely.” 

#####

So there’s a bit of a history between Trevor and Adrian’s families. It goes like this: Trevor is the heir to Belmont Engineering. Adrian is the heir to Tepes Industries. Their families have been bitter rivals since the beginning of time, or at least the beginning of capitalism. 

Trevor wasn’t the heir of Belmont Industries for his whole life, or even for the majority of his life. He’d gotten the position after his entire family had died in a helicopter crash, while he’d been sick at home. 

Still, he’d spent his whole life training to have a high-level position in Belmont Industries, and had learned early of Vlad Tepes’s somewhat questionable business practices. Sure, they’d gotten somewhat better since he’d gotten married, which had happened longer ago than Trevor had been alive. His wife Lisa had taken him in hand for exploiting his workers, and their minimum wage had raised and the sick days and vacation time had increased. But there was still a part of Vlad that had risen to power on the backs of his workers, and Trevor would never forgive him for it. 

Neither, it seemed, would Adrian. 

#####

“Wait,” Adrian hisses, looking at the man sipping a hot cocoa in the local Starbucks, where they’d planned to meet. “You’re telling me _that’s_ the Belmont?” His face colors. 

Sypha grins wickedly. “I’m telling you that’s the Belmont.” 

“He’s beautiful,” Adrian whispers. 

Sypha’s grin widens. “I know, isn’t he?” 

“And I have to pretend to date this beautiful man?” Adrian says. 

“You’ve met him before, you know,” Sypha says. “Remember my birthday party?” 

“I’ll have you know that I don’t remember a moment of your birthday party.” 

Sypha laughs. They’d all gotten absolutely smashed that night. It was a marvel that Trevor remembered anything, and Adrian had never held his liquor like Trevor could. 

Adrian groans. “You mean I met that fine specimen of a man while completely drunk off my ass?” 

“I do indeed!” Sypha says gleefully. 

“I cannot believe this,” Adrian says. 

Sypha lays a hand on his arm. “Adrian, it’s going to be fine. Don’t worry so much about it.” 

“I’m absolutely going to worry about it; what do you take me for? A well-adjusted human being?” Adrian rolls his eyes. 

“I’m going to take you for a coward if you don’t hurry up and go into the fucking Starbucks,” Sypha says. 

“Ugh, fine.” 

Sypha orders a chai latte, and Adrian a pumpkin spice latte. Trevor waves broadly at Sypha when he sees her in line, and Adrian fights gamely to keep his face from turning bright red. 

“Sypha!” Trevor says delightedly once they come up to him. “Fancy meeting you here!” 

“We planned to meet here, Treffy,” Sypha says. 

“It’s an expression. I can use an expression.” 

“And you must be the Belmont,” Adrian says, keeping his distance to hide the thoughts running through his head. 

“I have a name,” Trevor says. 

“This,” Sypha says, “Is Treffy.” 

Trevor sticks out his tongue and flips Sypha off, but not un-cheerfully. “I keep telling you that that’s never going to work out,” he says. 

“Maybe it won’t, maybe it will,” Sypha says, punching him lightly on the shoulder. 

“Yeah, yeah, love you too,” Trevor says. “My name is Trevor.” 

Adrian swallows hard. “Adrian.” 

“And it sounds like I’m your new boyfriend? I’ve got to hand it to you, Sypha, this is a hell of a setup.” 

“Well, you get to piss off a Tepes, and I get to piss off my father.” 

“I don’t hate all of the Tepes,” Trevor says. “Your mother seems like a fine human being. And you seem fairly tolerable too.” 

“Ah, fairly tolerable. Just the assessment I’d hoped for.” 

“Take what you can get, Tepes,” Trevor says. He grins, and there’s no malice in his voice. 

Sypha pulls out one chair for herself and one for Adrian. “We should sit,” she says. Adrian obeys—one thing the boys have in common is that they’re both used to doing whatever Sypha suggests—and sits down.

“So I’m pretending to date you,” Adrian says. “Are you sure you’re all right with that?” 

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Trevor says. “You’re not entirely awful-looking.” 

“My parents will catch on in half a second if they suspect that we aren’t really dating. My mother’s a doctor and…you know of my father.” 

“Then we’ll just have to be convincing,” Trevor says. 

“He means you’re going to have to kiss him,” Sypha chips in helpfully. “And share a bed, likely. He’s been anxious about it all week.” 

“It’s just kissing,” Trevor says, belying how desperately he wants an excuse to kiss Adrian. “And bed-sharing is nothing.” 

Adrian glares at Sypha. “I have not been anxious all week.” He has, but he’s not prepared to admit it in front of Trevor.

“Oops, you’re right. It must have been someone else pacing a hole in my good rug.” 

“That rug is disreputable and you know it.” 

“We’re in college, Adrian,” Sypha says. “Everything we own is of ill repute. At least I have something over the dorm carpet.”

Adrian and Trevor both grimace. There’s nothing like dorm carpeting to gross out everyone present. 

“You don’t need to be anxious,” Trevor says. “Or maybe you do. We’ll be pissing off a powerful man.” 

“A man who’s wrapped around my mother’s little finger,” Adrian says. “It’s not like he’d do anything awful. My mother will just be pleased that I finally have a boyfriend.” 

“So they know you, like, like guys and everything?” 

“My parents have always been very accepting when it comes to gender and sexuality,” Adrian says. “My mother actually specializes in queer healthcare.” 

“Well that’s good of her,” Trevor says. 

“She says I inspired her.” Adrian shrugs. “She’s a very good woman.” 

“With bad taste in men,” Sypha says. 

“He’s an ass,” Adrian says. “But I’ve only ever known him with my mother. I know he was worse before, but he can be almost kind.” 

“Almost?” Trevor asks. 

“Oh, he’ll be the pinnacle of hospitality for us.” Adrian takes a long sip of his pumpkin spice latte. “He’s just always calculating how something can benefit him, you know?” 

“Well I don’t intend for a merger to come out of this,” Trevor says. “Besides, the board has control of most of the decisions until I’m out of college.” 

“He’ll still be nice to you regardless,” Adrian says. “My mother would murder him if he weren’t.” 

“What am I supposed to call your parents, anyway?” Trevor asks. 

“Mr. Tepes is fine for my father,” Adrian says. “My mother will insist that you call her Lisa, but I’d call her Mrs. Tepes until such time as she does, just for my father’s sake.” 

“Are you going to tell them I’m a Belmont straight off?” Trevor asks. 

“I figure I’ll wait until the time that it’ll be the funniest,” Adrian says, and shrugs. “It sounds fairly amusing to just drop it on them, but not as funny as doing so right in the middle of Christmas dinner.” 

“Well,” Sypha says. “I’ll leave you two to plan. I’ve got to get to class.” She chugs the rest of her chai latte and throws it into the trash from halfway across the room. “Kobe!” 

“See you, Sypha,” Trevor says, standing briefly to give her a hug and press a kiss to her hair. 

“I’ll be seeing you,” Adrian says, standing in turn to wrap his arms around her and give her a kiss on the cheek. 

“Not if I see you two losers first!” Sypha says. 

#####  
  


Adrian’s phone rings. He waits till there’s a voice on the other end. 

“Hello?” Lisa says. 

“Mother?” Adrian says. 

“My baby boy!” Lisa’s voice lights up. “How’s my boy?” 

She’s always talked like that to him, since he was little and needed affirmation of his gender, when she and Vlad picked up the habit of calling him their boy instead of just Adrian. 

“I’ve got news for you, Mother,” Adrian says, and for a moment he feels bad about lying to her. 

“Oh?” Lisa says. “Is it good news?” 

“I like to think so.” Adrian blushes despite himself, and is thankful that he’s alone in his dorm where no one can see him. 

“Well I’ve got to hear it!” Lisa says. “I’m so happy for you, whatever it is.” 

She’s a good mother, and he starts to feel steadily worse about deceiving her. But it’s too late to back out now.

“I have a boyfriend,” Adrian says, cheeks aflame. 

“A boyfriend! Baby that’s wonderful!” 

Adrian almost smiles before remembering that he’s lying through his teeth. 

“His name is Trevor,” Adrian says, “And he’s an orphan, so I told him he could come home with me for Christmas?” 

“Of course, baby!” Lisa says. “Oh, your dad will be so excited to hear. My baby has a boyfriend!” Lisa pauses. “Is it serious?” she asks, resuming speaking with a barrage of questions. “Is he coming home the same day as you? How long have you known him?” 

“We met through a mutual friend,” Adrian says, deciding to go with the truth instead of coming up with an elaborate alibi. “Sypha? I’ve talked about her before. He’s going to drive up with me, and I don’t know if it’s serious or not?” He stops to take a deep breath and muse over the last question. “I really like him,” Adrian confides. 

And he’s surprised to find that he’s telling the truth. He does really like Trevor, even if they felt at odds half the time they were talking. Even if Trevor hates his father; certainly Adrian understood that feeling. He loved his father but understood him to be a deeply flawed being, and one that drove Adrian batty half to two-thirds of the time.

“I’m so proud of you!” Lisa says. “And I’m so excited to meet him.” 

“I’m excited for you to meet him too,” Adrian says, ignoring the gnawing pit of guilt in his stomach. 

“He sounds like a good boy,” Lisa says. 

Adrian’s blush deepens. “He really is.” 

#####

“Sypha, I hate you,” Trevor says. He glares at her, but without any real ill intent. 

“I hate you too, darling,” Sypha says, linking arms with him. “What do you think you’re going to write about for the next assignment?” 

Trevor and Sypha met in one of their English classes two years ago, both of them minoring in it. Trevor’s major was business, and Sypha’s engineering, but English was something the both of them loved. 

“I was thinking perhaps the tragic death of my entire family except me,” Trevor says. “Remind me again why I should have taken creative nonfiction when my entire life is a series of one tragedy after another?” 

“Because you needed the credits?” Sypha says brightly, knowing there’s no real misery behind Trevor’s words, or at least none she could help with right now. 

“What are you going to write about?” Trevor asks. 

“Oh, hell if I know.” Sypha shrugs. “That’s why I asked you.” 

“Well I’m clueless too.” 

“I will get Adrian to help me brainstorm,” Sypha says. “Maybe all three of us could work on it?” 

“Sypha,” Trevor says. “Why are you simultaneously the best and worst wingman in existence?” 

“Because I am terrible, and wonderful, and all shall love me and despair.” She squeezes Trevor’s hand. “So you do like him?” 

“ _Sypha_ ,” Trevor repeats. “You really don’t remember your birthday party, do you?” 

“I know that the two of you were there and you presumably met.” 

“God,” Trevor says. “Next time remember! Beer before liquor, never been sicker!” 

“But there were pucker shots,” Sypha says. 

“You can do pucker shots,” Trevor says. “Just don’t be already drunk first or you will end up blackout drunk and suddenly no one remembers when you turned 21 but me.” 

“What _did_ happen that you’re not telling me?” Sypha asks. 

“Adrian was blackout drunk, as you know,” Trevor says. “And I was just…completely enamored of him. I couldn’t stop looking at him. He’s beautiful, Sypha. I’ve got a miserable crush on a Tepes, of all people.” 

“Forget the old rivalry,” Sypha says. “Just breathe, Treffy. You’re going to kiss him, and he’s going to fall in love with you, and everything will be fine.” 

“You didn’t fall in love with me when you kissed me,” Trevor grumbles. 

“That’s because I was drunk off my ass,” Sypha says. “Tell you what. Next time I kiss you, I promise to fall in love with you.” 

“Next time? So you’re going to do it again?” Trevor says. 

Sypha shrugs. “I can’t promise I will not. I am very bi, and you are very pretty.” 

Trevor blushes. “You don’t mean that.” 

“I do, with all my heart.” She’s surprisingly earnest, and Trevor’s cheeks deepen in color. “He’s going to fall for you. And then my two best boys will be together and I’ll stop having to schedule individual movie nights!” 

“What do you do with him, anyway?” 

“Oh, the usual. Watch horror movies, paint each others’ toenails. I love you, Treffy, but I am not going to let you paint my toenails.” 

“That’s probably for the best,” Trevor says. “So do you think he’ll paint my toenails?” 

“If you actually wash your feet for once,” Sypha says, grinning. “And if it’s in front of his parents. You know he needs to rebel a little.” 

“Fuck yeah, stick it to the man,” Trevor says. “Just my luck that ‘the man’ is my personal nemesis.” 

He’s not exactly _Trevor’s_ nemesis, being more of a general Belmont nemesis that Trevor just kind of inherited, but he’s enough of one that Trevor is going to enjoy fucking with him. Quite a lot.

#####

“So what’s our backstory?” Trevor says instead of hello as he slings his backpack into the back seat of Adrian’s car. “And can you pop the trunk?” 

“Yeah, sure,” Adrian says, pulling the lever. 

Trevor grunts as he lifts his suitcase into the trunk. He slams it shut with a resounding thunk. 

“Got my stuff packed in,” Trevor says, climbing into the front seat and buckling his seatbelt. “Now we go fuck with your parents.” 

“We fuck with my father,” Adrian reminds him as he pulls out of the dorm parking lot. “I’m not mad at my mother. _She_ _wants_ me to be a doctor.” 

“Oh, so that’s what this is about?” Trevor says. “He’s pressuring you to go into business, is he?” Trevor frowns. “I hate business, but with my family dead, I have to step up and be a proper heir, you know? Take care of the family business, keep it from turning into…well, _your_ family’s business.” 

“I’m sorry,” Adrian says quietly. 

Trevor shrugs. “It happened a long time ago. It’s, well, not okay, exactly, but it’s not _not_ okay either.” 

“I’m still sorry,” Adrian says. He lays a hand on Trevor’s shoulder. “It’s an awful thing to have happen to you.” 

“Yeah,” Trevor says. “I guess it is.” 

The music on the radio switches from folk to the familiar openings of The Ding Dong Song. Adrian gapes as an intensely sexual male voice growls out “Ohhhh, you touch my tra-la-la.” 

“You have got to be kidding me,” Adrian says, speaking over “Oooh, my ding-ding-dong.” 

Trevor throws back his head and laughs. 

“You have the most fucking awful taste in music,” Adrian says. He frowns at the radio. He’s been frowning a lot at inanimate objects lately, his mind helpfully surprised. 

“You mean you’ve never played musical Russian roulette before?” Trevor asks, still cackling. 

“I can say most assuredly that I have not!” 

“See, you put a bunch of perfectly normal songs on a playlist, and then you seed in, like, The Ding Dong Song, or Moskau, or Rasputin.” 

“This is the worst sport known to mankind,” Adrian says. “And one of my father’s friends once took up extreme ironing.” 

“No, see, then you forget it’s there, and eventually it hits and it’s fucking hilarious!” Trevor insists. “Don’t tell me you weren’t at least a little amused.” 

“Please don’t tell me you have Rasputin on our road trip playlist,” Adrian says. “I can and will confiscate the aux cord.” 

“This is the only bullet in the chamber, I swear,” Trevor says. 

Adrian sighs, loud and blustery. “I hate you, Belmont,” he says, but there’s no real malice behind it. 

“Fuck you too, Tepes,” Trevor says, grinning brightly at Adrian.

  
#####

They get to the Tepes residence at mid-afternoon. And Trevor knew that his house was big, but this is _palatial._ Or really, it looks more like a castle. Adrian all but bounds up to the door, even with a giant duffel bag on his back. Trevor walks more slowly, with his backpack on his back and his suitcase trailing behind him. 

Adrian takes his keys out of his pocket and unlocks the front door. 

“Mother!” he calls. “We’re here!” 

“Adrian! Darling!” Adrian’s mother—Lisa—sweeps down the stairs and wraps him in a warm hug. He’s not much taller than her, though he’s built willowy in places where she’s curvy and muscled in the places she’s soft. He has her hair, though his golden eyes don’t come from either parent, as far as Trevor knows. “It’s so good to see you! And this must be my future son-in-law!” 

“ _Mother_ ,” Adrian protests. “Please! We haven’t—I mean—” 

“I’m sorry, Trevor, dear,” Lisa says, heading over to Trevor. She ignores Adrian spluttering and turning a deep shade of red in the background.

“It’s so nice to meet you, Mrs. Tepes,” Trevor says. 

“And you, of course,” Lisa says. “But no need to stand on ceremony with me, dear. Please, call me Lisa.” She takes a step closer to him and holds out her arms. “Is it all right if I hug you?” 

Trevor hasn’t been hugged by a mother since he lost his own when he was a young teenager, so all he can do is nod as Lisa wraps him in her surprisingly strong arms. 

“It’s so good to meet you!” Lisa says. “We’ve been hoping Adrian would bring someone home for so long!” 

“Well, here I am,” Trevor says, and immediately kicks himself for it. Was it possible to be any less eloquent? And in front of Adrian’s mother, to boot?

Lisa isn’t fazed. “Here you are!” she says, holding him out at arm’s length to inspect him. “You did so well,” she says, turning her head to address Adrian. “I’m so proud of you, my boy!” 

“Don’t talk about him like he’s a piece of meat, Mother,” Adrian says, no less red. 

“He’s not meat!” Lisa protests. “He’s simply a very nice-looking young man!” 

Adrian walks up to him and slips an arm around his waist. “He is, at that,” he says, pecking him on the cheek. Now it’s Trevor’s turn for his cheeks to flame. “I fell for his heart, but the face was certainly a perk.” 

“Sweetie,” Trevor says. “You’re so nice to me.” 

“Well I should hope so,” Adrian says. “You’re my boyfriend.” 

Boyfriend. His boyfriend. For the next two weeks. 

Trevor is so far beyond fucked. 

Vlad doesn’t get home until later that night, presumably busy drinking blood from the poor or whatever he did at his business. 

“Son!” he said once he got into the living room. He held out his arms for Adrian, who dutifully stepped into them and gave him a tight hug. 

And holy shit, Vlad is _tall._ Trevor is no slouch when it comes to height, but as he looks up, up, up at Vlad, he realizes that his personal benchmark for “tall” was about a foot too short. 

“And you must be Trevor,” Vlad says. “I’m afraid Adrian didn’t think to give us your last name.” 

“Just Trevor is fine,” Trevor says, not wanting to blow their cover so soon. 

“Well, Just Trevor, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Vlad extends his hand to shake hands. Trevor scrambles to stand and place his hand in Vlad’s, and _wow_ is that a grip. His hands are huge and incredibly strong. Trevor begins to think twice about admitting that he’s a Belmont. He was fine with angering a powerful man on his home turf, but a man who could kick his ass? That’s another thing entirely. 

“How do you find my home so far?” Vlad asks, snapping Trevor out of his thoughts. 

“It’s lovely,” Trevor says. “Really, I’ve never seen anything like it. Thank you for extending your hospitality.” 

“It’s nothing for my boy’s boyfriend,” Vlad says, smiling broadly. It’s almost eerie on a face that looks like it wasn’t precisely made for smiling, between the furrow between his brows and the harsh beard highlighting frown lines. “Who he didn’t tell us about until a week before Christmas,” Vlad says between his teeth, shooting something that isn’t exactly a glare in Adrian’s direction. 

Adrian beams. 

“Not that that’s your fault,” Vlad says, turning back to Trevor with a wide smile. “Please, make yourself at home. Any guest of Adrian’s is a guest of ours.” 

“He’s not just a guest, Vlad, darling,” Lisa says, sweeping in and taking his hand. “He’s _family.”_

Lisa smiles at Trevor and he feels a brief stab of guilt. 

“That he is,” Alucard says, and leans up to peck him on the cheek. The point of contact is electric. 

And Trevor _wants_ this, wants Alucard as he takes his hand in his, wants this awkward, dysfunctional father and this charming, loving mother. He wants a family again. Too bad this is all just a game, and it will never be his. 

#####

“You didn’t warn me you were half-giant,” Trevor hisses to Adrian in their bedroom that night.

“You didn’t ask?” Adrian says. “I never really think about it; I grew up with the man, you know.” 

“He’s very, very, _very_ tall,” Trevor says. 

“Yes,” Adrian says. “You have absolutely astute observation skills.” 

“You should warn a guy that he’s going to be living with an eight-foot vampire for two weeks!” 

“Vampire?” Adrian says, raising an eyebrow. 

“You live in a castle, Adrian. A _castle._ Plus who’s named Vlad and not a vampire?” 

“Eastern Europeans, Belmont.” 

“Oh,” Trevor says. “Right.” He shrugs. “So, rock paper scissors for who gets the bed?” 

“My mother has a habit of coming in in the mornings to wake me up,” Adrian says. “So unless you’re interested in this whole cat being let out of the bag far too early…” 

Trevor nods. “We’re going to have to share. You did have the decency of warning me, at least.” 

Adrian looks around at his childhood room and thanks his lucky stars that his parents upgraded his bed to a queen when he turned thirteen.

"Just kick me if I snore or steal the covers or, y’know, whatever,” Trevor says. “I haven’t shared a bed with someone I’m not fucking in…” He trails off, and suddenly looks morose. 

Adrian can’t stand to see that expression on his face. “What if I just want to kick you?” he says, in a desperate bid to distract him. 

“Then I’ll tell your mother,” Trevor says, snapping back to his usual cheerful self. Adrian knows he’s only hiding the pain behind a veneer of sanguinity, and while he longs to let Trevor cry it out in his arms (wait, where did that feeling come from?), he knows that right before bed isn’t the best time for that to happen. 

So instead he turns his back to Trevor and begins, awkwardly, to change. Trevor follows suit, and before long Trevor is in boxers and a ribbed tank top and Alucard is in fluffy pajama pants and a t-shirt. 

“Bedtime, I suppose?” Alucard says, climbing into bed and holding up the covers for Trevor. Trevor settles carefully into bed, avoiding any potential points of contact between them, and turns off the light. 

“Goodnight, Trevor,” Adrian says quietly. 

“Goodnight, Adrian.” 


End file.
